High school basketball roundup: St. Mary clinches state tournament berth

YUKON — AimeeRischard knew the shot was good the moment it left her hand.

The Mount St. Mary junior was right, and her 3-pointer with 12 seconds left lifted the Rockets to a 54-50 win over Heritage Hall and a berth in the Class 4A state tournament Monday.

Mount St. Mary's Aimee Rishcard (2) reacts after hitting the go-ahead basket next to Heritage Hall's Baillie Miller (11) during a Class 4A girls high school playoff game between Heritage Hall and Mount St. Mary at Yukon High School in Yukon, Okla., Monday, March 4, 2013. Mount St. Mary won to advance to the state tournament. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

“That's probably the most memorable shot I've ever had,” Rischard said. “I never had a doubt it was going in.”

St. Mary will play Byng at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the state tournament at Southern Nazarene.

“We're right where we're supposed to be,” Rischard said.

The tournament berth is the Rockets' second in school history. St. Mary lost to Perkins-Tryon in last season's opening round.

KaelyBond led St. Mary with 16 points. Rischard added 12 — all on 3-pointers — and JordanHagood scored 11.

It wasn't easy for St. Mary, which had gone 2-1 against the Chargers during the regular season.

The Rockets trailed by four before Bond drilled a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left to cut the deficit to 50-49.

After a quick foul to get closer to the bonus, Heritage Hall turned the ball over on an inbounds, giving St. Mary a chance to take the lead.

The play was designed to give Bond another look, but when the Chargers had her covered, Hagood found Rischard for the 3-pointer that put the Rockets back in front.

The Chargers turned the ball over once more to seal the win for St. Mary.

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Ryan Aber has worked for The Oklahoman since 2006, covering high schools, the Oklahoma City RedHawks, the Oklahoma City Barons and OU football recruiting. An Oklahoma City native, Aber graduated from Northeastern State. Before joining The...